PSEG Long Island files application to build 7.3-mile power line between Uniondale, Lynbrook

Posted
Monday, January 15, 2018 3:06 pm

By Mike Smollins

PSEG Long Island on Jan. 9 filed a state application proposing a new 7.3-mile, high-voltage power line that would run underground between substations in Uniondale and Lynbrook, and is aimed at reducing outages in the area.

The $176 million endeavor, called the Western Nassau Transmission Project, has been in the planning stages for about two years, and would begin in mid- to late 2019 and likely be completed by December 2020. There are five proposed routes for the project, but the top proposal would start at Stewart Avenue and end a few blocks from Merrick Road in Lynbrook. The work will be mostly done throughout the Town of Hempstead, as well as in the villages of Lynbrook, Malverne and Garden City.

Jeffrey Weir, the spokesperson for PSEG, said that it is too early in the planning phase to predict what impact the work would have on traffic, but added that steps will be taken to try to mitigate issues. He added that it is a very important endeavor. “This project is a required, much-needed project,” he said. “It will ensure that all of our customers in southwestern Nassau County have the power that they need from now and then into the future.”

Weir said that there are already two transmission lines going into the Lynbrook substation, but adding a third 138,000-volt cable would ensure that if anything caused a failure for the existing cables, which are 50-years-old, the power would remain on throughout the southwestern portion of the county. “It’s all about redundancy, reliability and resiliency,” he said. He added that the work would be in compliance with the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, which is a “not-for-profit international regulatory authority with a mission to assure the reliability and security of the bulk power system in North America,” according to its website.

A website created for the project notes, “the line adds a second circuit to serve the substations, providing redundancy in the case of an electric system impact. This improves the reliability of the electric grid for residents and businesses of western Nassau County.”

The website for the project can be found by visiting westernnassautransimission.com. Documents related to it can be found at libraries in Lynbrook, Rockville Centre, Malverne, West Hempstead, Hempstead, Lakeview and Garden City. In addition, a hotline is available by dialing (516) 780-0665.